Oscars: Russia Selects 'Sobibor' for Foreign-Language Category

The film is focused on a 1943 uprising in the Nazi extermination camp Sobibor.

Russia has selected Sobibor, directed by Konstantin Khabensky, for its foreign-language film submission for Oscar consideration.

The World War II drama is focused on the story of an uprising in the Sobibor Nazi extermination camp in 1943, led by Soviet officer Alexander Pechersky.

Based on Ilya Vasiliev's book Alexander Pechersky: Breakthrough to Immortality, the film chronicles the uprising, which led to a massive escape of prisoners and is considered to be the only successful uprising in a Nazi extermination camp.

Sobibor is the debut feature for actor-turned-director Khabensky, who also plays the pic's main character, Pechersky. Christopher Lambert stars as Karl Frenzel, head of the Nazi camp.

The film was released in Russia on May 3 and grossed $5 million.

Sobibor is Russia's 26th foreign-language film Oscar submission since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun won an Academy Award in 1994, and another six movies scored nominations. The most recent nomination was earned by Andrei Zvyagintsev's Loveless (2017).